By Olukorede Yishau
Journalism is an interesting profession; it thrives on oddity, popularity and proximity. It is no news when a dog bites a man, except the man is some super star or celebrity. When there is an accident, the victims are not identified by names in the headline except they are popular. And when one of them is the only popular one, the tyranny of popularity comes into play as only the famous is identified in the headline and the rest of them become known as ‘others’.
This golden journalism rule angered an ally of one of the men who died in the Kaduna air crash and he chose to rant in the social media. He was sad every report on the accident identified the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, in the headline.
“COAS and 9 or 10 others lost their lives in that ill-fated crash. Those others were someone’s husband, father, fiancé, brother, uncle, son etc as you can see. This is so heartbreaking, May God grant them all the fortitude to bear the loss,” he complained.
As though to buttress him, the fiancée of one of the crew members, Flight Lieutenant Taiwo Olufemi Asaniyi, took to the social media to celebrate the man who would have been her husband, the man who proposed to her August last year and the man she affectionately called “Adigun miiiiii, hot choco miiii”.
Aside Asaniyi, the others who were hidden under Attahiru’s shadows were Brig.-Gen. Abdurahman Kuliya (Chief of Military Intelligence); Brig.-Gen M.I Abdulkadir (Chief of Staff to the COAS); Brig Gen Olatunji Olayinka (Army Provost Marshal); Maj. L. A. Hayat (ADC to COAS); Maj. Hamza; the Orderly; Sgt. Umar; Flt. Lt. A. A. Olufade; Sgt. Adesina; and ACM Oyedepo.
They were going with Attahiru to Kaduna, where he was to serve as the Special Guest of Honour and Reviewing Officer at the Passing Out parade of the Regular Recruits Intakes from Depot Nigerian Army, Zaria.
When Kobe Bryant, the ex-American basketball player, died with his daughter in a helicopter crash, the tyranny of popularity reared its head like it always does when a star dies with lesser known people. When Mrs. Bryant held a memorial for her late husband and daughter Gigi, the way the event went made me ask: Did the Byrants die alone? Of course the answer is: No!
Basketball Coach Altobelli also died with his wife Keri and daughter. Of course, the pilot, Ara Zobayan, who was taking them to the girls’ basketball game in Thousand Oaks, California, is also gone. Three others – Christina Mauser; Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton – perished in the crash. But, in the sight of the world, it is as though only Bryant matters. His daughter got mentioned because of him. Thanks to having a famous father!
Back in Nigeria, when ex-Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh was killed, it was initially thought that his driver was also killed, but it was as though he was not important. He would have died without a name. Men without brains but brawn pumped hot lead into Air Chief Marshal Badeh. They also shot his driver. Badeh’s death revealed the unfairness of humanity.
When a poor man dies in the company of a big man, he becomes nothing but a footnote. It is like his death means nothing. Almost everybody will talk about the big man while the poor or unpopular man or woman’s family will mourn in silence. It is also not good to die in a tragedy where one of the key culprits is a big man who those in authority cannot move against. When you die in these circumstances, you become a mere footnote.
The tyranny of the popular also played out when a church collapsed in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital some years back. It all played out at Reigners Bible Church Int’l Inc. The founder of the church was to be ordained a bishop. He is not a small fry so the church was jam-packed. Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel came with some of his commissioners and aides. But thirty minutes into the governor’s arrival, hell literally came down. No thanks to human error, the church’s iron pillars gave way and the blue roofs came thumping down. Of course on people! An account even said someone was cut into two by the iron pillars. A policeman who reportedly saved the governor is now six feet below. And some others broke their necks, their limbs and their back. The founder of the church, Pastor Akan Weeks, had his leg broken.
The day after the incident, we saw figures as high as 160 in the media. It was attributed to Chief Medical Director of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, who later denied it. Police gave the figure as 29. Governor Emmanuel said only 23 died.
For students of the University of Uyo, and the Uyo City Polytechnic, believed to have been worst hit by the disaster, reality looked like a dream. Emmanuel’s men, who crawled out of death’s hole, had interesting testimonies to share. His Chief Press Secretary, Ekerette Udoh, said an iron rod nearly cut his neck, but eventually hit him on the back. The cap of his left knee was broken and pains travelled all over his body.
Charles Udoh, who joined the State Executive Council only some one week before the disaster, thought he was watching a movie when the pillars started coming down. He was on his way out of the church to catch a flight when tragedy struck. He would have been out but protocol demanded that he told the governor before vanishing from the church hall. It was this protocol-induced task he was accomplishing when death almost took him away. He had to run here and there to prevent the iron pillars from turning him to a candidate for the mortuary. Nollywood actor Ekere Nkanga, who has acted almost all roles imaginable, was humbled when he had to wade through bodies to safety.
Of all those who died in the tragedy, we were lucky to identify Josephine Effiom because of her mates at the polytechnic, who described her as ‘one of the first three brilliant chaps in my class’.
My final take: When you pray every morning, ask God for the grace not to die in the company of a big man or a star; this will save you from a situation where only your family will mourn you in silence. There will be so much noise about the big man everywhere and it will be as though you never mattered. Also pray not to die when a big man is to blame for an avoidable tragedy. If you do, it will just look like you are without a name.
• Yishau is a newspaper columnist and author of ‘In the Name of Our Father’ and ‘Vaults of Secrets’